Wilson Alumni Stand Up For Name

February 11, 2004|By PENELOPE OVERTON; Courant Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — The backlash to a student proposal to strip Woodrow Wilson's name from the local middle school has started, as alumni defend the link to local history and research shows contradictory evidence of Wilson's views on race.

``All of us kids who went to Woodrow Wilson never gave the president a thought,'' Sal Spatola told the committee considering the school name Monday. ``It was our school, and we were proud. It's a shame and kind of sad to kill off our old school.''

Donna Bousquet said the now defunct Woodrow Wilson High School had enrolled students of different races without discord.

Eliminating the name at the middle school would be like disowning a happy piece of local history, she argued.

The committee also received a letter from the Class of 1937. Charles W. Harris and Arline Whitmore asked the school board to ``put down your chisel'' -- the same chisel, they noted, that had retired their old high school song, motto, colors and mascot.

``We do not celebrate the mores of an unenlightened society of the past, but rather the tradition that has been forged under the `Woodrow Wilson' banner since 1925,'' they wrote. ``We have nurtured a Wilson community that can celebrate the diversity of today.''

Until Monday, when the public was heard for the first time, the only viewpoint on the use of Woodrow Wilson as a school name came from the two students who say the 28th president was a racist unworthy of such an honor.

Middletown High seniors Andrew Beatman and Vincent Crawford cite scholars that say Wilson, a former Wesleyan University professor, vetoed a racial equality clause from the League of Nations charter and applauded the controversial silent film, ``Birth of a Nation.''

But John Geary, an eighth-grade history teacher at Woodrow Wilson who is on the committee formed to consider renaming the school, disclosed his research at Monday's meeting, which might cast doubt on the allegations.

Wilson killed the racial equality clause only after British and Australian leaders at the time said they would never adopt the charter if it remained, Geary said.

Wilson, whom Geary described as a ``political animal,'' sacrificed the clause, he said.

Geary also noted that the racial equality clause was not included to protect blacks, but intended to address Japanese nationals living in the American West. Wilson worried that Western senators would reject a charter that safeguarded Japanese nationals.

His research also seemed to cast doubt on a magazine article that appeared after Wilson's death and said he supported ``Birth of a Nation,'' the 1915 film that romanticized the Ku Klux Klan. The one person that could have heard Wilson's response later denied it, Geary said.

These two allegations represent only half of Beatman and Crawford's case.

Their other accusations -- that Wilson tried to pass laws limiting the civil rights of blacks and rejected black applicants while president of Princeton University -- appear to stand.

The committee has not made its final decision on whether to advocate a change in name, but members appeared Monday to be leaning toward renaming the school if only in the hope of finding a new namesake that might inspire students.

``It appears that most students give no thought to the man at all, and those that do have negative feelings,'' said Robert Rosenbaum, a retired Wesleyan professor. ``Why not find someone to generate positive feelings, a role model?''

Tim Franklin, a Woodrow Wilson graduate and member of the city NAACP chapter, agreed. ``Why worry about convicting Wilson or endorsing him?'' he said. ``Let's find a safer choice.''